Samaria ancient city drone footage

When the united kingdom of David and Solomon split, the northern kingdom (“Israel”) soon made its capital in Samaria under King Omri (1 Kings 16:23-25). When the Assyrians captured the northern kingdom in 722 BC, the ethnic make-up of the region changed dramatically. Jewish people were deported (2 Kings 17:6) and replaced with non-Jewish people (1 Kings 17:24). The southern kingdom (“Judah”) would be defeated in 586 BC by the Babylonians, who also forcibly deported a large segment of the Jewish population. While the Judeans returned to Jerusalem and the southern region, the Israelites of the north never returned to take Samaria. By the time of the New Testament, when a strong Jewish population existed both in the Galilee and in Judea, “Samaria” had become a region populated by an eclectic group of non-Jewish residents who were sandwiched between two very strong Jewish regions. It’s easy to pick up on the prejudices between the two groups when reading the Gospels. But in the beginning, Samaria was a city on a hill. This video shows the ruins of ancient Samaria as it sits perched on a hill. Kings who ruled here included Ahab, who was married to Jezebel. There are several references to Samaria in the Bible. If the reference is in the Old Testament, Samaria is a city. If the reference is in the New Testament, it’s a region. By that time, the city previously called Samaria had been renamed Sebastia.